To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions in what (a) circumstances and (b) proportion of cases interest is applied to arrears owed by non-resident parents in cases managed by the Child Support Agency.

The Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission is responsible for the child maintenance system. I have asked the Child Maintenance Commissioner to write to the hon. Member with the information requested and I have seen the response.

Letter from Stephen Geraghty:

In reply to your recent Parliamentary Question about the Child Support Agency, the Secretary of State promised a substantive reply from the Child Maintenance Commissioner as the Child Support Agency is now the responsibility of the Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission.

You asked the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions in what (a) circumstances and (b) proportion of cases interest is applied to arrears owed by non-resident parents in cases managed by the Child Support Agency.

The CSA does not apply interest charges to maintenance arrears and has not done so since April 1995. Section 43 of the Child Maintenance and Other Payments Act 2008 extinguished liability for any interest outstanding from periods prior to April 1995.

There are however exceptions for enforcement cases when interest can be charged following registration of a liability with the County Court. Interest in these circumstances is not calculated under Child Support legislation, but under general rules applying to court orders. In practice, this is only applied in cases involving applications for an Order for Sale, where the CSA may apply to the court for any interest accruing between the date a liability order was registered with the County Court and the application for an Order for Sale.

As of 31 December 2009 the CSA was dealing with 1,213,100 live and assessed cases. Only Order for Sale cases with a secured debt balance in excess of £5000 have interest collected on them. As at 31 December 2009 the CSA had referred 342 Order for Sale actions, which represents less than 0.3% of the live and assessed caseload.

I hope you find this answer helpful.